AT the tender age of 13 Allison Wagstaff, of Meltham could serve up a tasty three-course Sunday lunch for the family.
As long as she can remember she's loved cooking and would have gone on to make a career of it, had she not been persuaded by teachers to take a more academic route at A-level.
In recent months, however, she has realised her dream and opened The Cook Book Shop in Harrogate from where she offers both cookery fans and chefs an amazing collection of new and second hand books.
After an 18-year career in print production for household name mail order catalogues including Grattan and Empire, she took the plunge, opted for redundancy and turned her attention to finding the right location for her shop.
Being married to Simon Wagstaff - who runs the local family shoe business - she had first hand retail experience to help her.
She said: "We knew that finding the right location for such a shop was essential. We eventually found some premises in Harrogate, just two minutes from Valley Gardens and five minutes from the world-famous Betty's tearooms.
"The Cook Book Shop is found in the Cold Bath area of the town. It's an ideal place as Harrogate has over 100 restaurants and lots of other specialist food shops. The only drawback for me is the travelling but I've got used to it now."
Allison says: "For as long as I can remember I've just loved cooking and have collected cookery books. Simon and I met each other while studying at Huddersfield Polytechnic. When I cooked for him or other students , I never used to cook the normal kind of student food. We always had something much more exotic.
"We still love to have dinner parties at home and, as we spend a lot of time travelling, we always visit local markets and supermarkets and bring back different products, herbs and spices."
Allison knew there was a market in the North of England for such a specialist cook book shop.
"Quite regularly I get chefs coming in looking for specialist books. We're currently getting orders for El Bulli, the culinary bible from the famous Spanish restaurant of the same name. It's just been translated into English. By the end of the year, I'm sure every chef will have a copy, despite it costing £100."
What particularly surprises Allison about her shop is the popularity of the extensive children's section.
"We all have this idea that children don't want to cook any more. With cookery not being taught as much in schools, the demand for such books is amazing. Likewise they are keen to buy the accessories on sale like aprons and cooking equipment."
Allison's shop has literally thousands of cook book titles - many written by household names, some antiquarian and nearly new and others aimed at people with special dietary needs like diabetes or food allergies.
Take a look at Allison's website, which offers a mail order service to see the huge range of cook books available. It's at www.thecookbookshop.co.uk or visit Allison and enjoy browsing among the bookshelves.
Allison's top five cookbooks
* In at number one is Ducasse Flavours of France. Compiled by chef Alan Ducasse, who has restaurants all over the world, Allison says this is a fantastic read, although an expensive book at £45.
* Hot on its heels at number two is Thai Food by David Thompson. "My favourite food is Thai so this is the perfect book for me," says Allison. A bit cheaper too at £25.
* Taking the third spot is Bills Open Kitchen by Australian chef Bill Granger. An easy-to-make "comfort food" book that's very popular with customers at Allison's shop. Priced £16.99.
* In at number four is Just Like Mother Used To Make by Tom Norrington-Davies, priced £20. This features traditional English food like liver and onions, given a modern twist, ideal for younger people.
* And at number five is Hard Up And Hungry by Betsy Bell, a survival guide for students and a snip at £10. This features easy-to-make straightforward meals for very little financial outlay. Will appeal to anyone, not just students.
